Cricket

Team Khwaja Vs Team Vallipuram & the winner is....!!

Associate Directors Election 2020. 

As a freelance writer, blogger and analyst I am picking up this challenge  to evaluate the past, present and presumed future of Associate worlds  from the Top 8 cricket administration commanders; as they put their hats in the ring with just one ambition, to be elected as one of the 3 Associate Directors. 

 

Ambition is dynamic if the ambitious grade is not becoming bigger & bypassing the ultimate aim. Aimless ambition is like keeping alive with ventilator and unlike Boxing, Cricket is a team game.  I am collecting all 8 hats and initiating hypothetical resemblance of candidates  to make 2 teams. No scientific specifications are applied but just self made analysis based on sign, symptom and history of individual Candidates to the best of my knowledge. 

 

Please no offense intended, tendering anticipated apologies if I hurt anyone unintentionally. 

 

A leader got to be the Captain and undisputed leader Imran Khwaja is my one Captain and his long associate in Asian Cricket Council, closest geographical neighbor Mahinda Vallipuram should be uncontested worthy Captain of another team. 

 

Players never make a team and being a self-appointed analyst, my privilege is to announce the name of team mates, strictly on self analyzed logics.  All are entitle to counter and discard at any time, if they wish to. 

 

Imran, Neil, Prof., Mark ( Clockwise from top) 

The PRESENT  philosophy  of Captain Khwaja is very  prominent and determining, e.g.

 

Immediate Priorities for Associates

(1) Introduce a single tier ICC membership based on egalitarian principles

with a system of merit-based promotion and relegation;

(2) Fair and equitable tournament structures which give ALL members the opportunity to play at the highest levels;

(3)Develop and implement an incentivised and equitable financial distribution model which is meritocratic, objective and criteria driven across the entire membership;

(4) Get cricket included in OLYMPICS and other multi-sports games.

(In my last Board Meeting as Acting Chairman we passed a resolution for ICC to make a bid for cricket to be included in the 2028 Olympic Games. We also formed a working group to oversee this project).

 

This is added further with his vice captain Neil Speight: 

 

• Olympic participation

• Fair, increasing and equitable funding for all members

• 8 ICC major global events in the 8-year event cycle (rather than 6)

• Increased competition opportunities for Associate Members

• Complete financial transparency

• Consistent and clear communication with Members

 

The another team mate  Mark Stafford is a loyal teammate, appears to be close & sincere follower of good policies offered by above two team members. 

Prof. Adam Yahaya is an independent new player in Global Cricket but a veteran and successful maestro of Cricket administrator-art and knows how difficult to run sports arguably in one of the most difficult continents on earth - Africa.  A notable admirer of Imran Khwaja and his team policies. 

 

The PAST of Captain Khwaja is equally illustrated and justly supported by his vice Captain Neil Speight for more than 8 years in the area that includes: 

(a) a meritocratic Associates membership structure with performance based funding with promotion and relegation;

b) revamped Membership criteria aligned across Associates and Full Members

(c) 2 Associates being promoted to Full Membership;

(d) Meaningful and equal Associate Member voting rights at ICC Board at parity to full members;

(e) the right for ALL Associate Members including the former "Affiliates" to attend the ICC AGM;

(f) introduction of independent Chairman for ICC and independent Chairman for Associate Membership, and an independent female Director;

(g) the right for Associates to serve on ICC Committees and hold positions based on merit (an Associate is now Deputy Chairman of ICC, and other associates sit on various ICC Board Committees);

(h) meritocratic ranking system and right of participation in T20 competition leading to the World Cup; T20 status for all members, global ranking for T20 cricket including Associates; conversion of Champions Trophy to T20 World Cup; inclusion of Associates on a 20 teams ODI status/rankings table; revamped CWC qualification pathway across 32 teams, etc. etc.etc..........

 

 

L-R Mahinda, Brian, Sushil. 

Captain Mahinda Vallipuram undoubtedly a very successful top cricket administrator of Malaysian Cricket Association. His PRESENT vision and headlines of his ideas can be described as follow, if he is re-Elected: 

A) To work with ICC Chairman and The Board

B) To work with ICC Management and Development Team

C) One Team - One Class - One Vote (Establish a single tier for the ICC membership)

D) Global Strategy and Governance Review

E) Pathways and World Events (2023-31) / Meritocratic competition structures / Development 

F) To further enhance the ICC Entry Level Programme to be more cricket centric and to have a specific Central Database System available to all AM's.

G) Olympics and Multi-sports 

H) Financial Model 

 

As a current director it is neither within public domain nor very specifically elaborated in Vallipuram’s CV issued for the election, on his PAST contribution as their elected Director. 

 

Tony Brian, another current Associate Director from Scotland, published his CV for this election basically states in many lines under " WHAT HAVE I ACHIEVED IN MY TWO YEARS AS AN ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR?" , unequivocally nothing are palpable. 

 

Even more sad when he tries to explain his future intention as a re- elected Director. Juggling with promising words are not an effective convincing tool. 

 

I placed Mahinda Vallipuram and Tony Brian in same team for main two reasons; a) Both are current Associate Directors and b) they were United allegedly to vote against their colleague Associate Director Imran Khwaja for ICC Chair Election. 

 

The third member of the team appears to be an accidental entrant under peculiar circumstances. He is Sushil Modi, a totally unknown personality as a Cricket administrator and everything indicates that he had not even attended any ICC Annual Conference in his lifetime in whatsoever capacity may be. Apparently with the blessing of Mahinda Vallipuram and Mahamood Gaznavi of Singapore, submitted his nomination on the last day, and expecting to get votes to be one of the Directors of ICC Board. Good Luck to the new-entry. 

 

++++++++++++++++++++++

 

The eighth member contesting this election is absolutely a man with all class, be it the valuable social contributions or be it the high class sporting contributions, Pankaj Khimji is an honorable man of his own. A man with total independent conviction & high integrity. I am unable to pace him in any teams because he is an one man team. 

 

The FUTURE of Associates will be determined by the people they vote and Associate Directors can only succeed if they work together with LIKE THINKING ELECTED DIRECTORS and without any self interest ( read own country) but for the interest of 92 members. 

 

Terms Captain, vice Captain, team mates etc. are used for dramatizing reasons and no real meanings should be drawn out of the terminologies.